Defoe considers his Spurs future

Jermain Defoe has revealed how he asked for a move away from Tottenham in January due to a lack of first-team football.

The England striker Jermain Defoe was keen to go elsewhere on loan after finding himself behind Emmanuel Adebayor in the pecking order, with Spurs boss Harry Redknapp regularly opting to only use one up front this season. Defoe was also concerned about his chances of being involved with England at this summer's European Championship if he wasn't playing on a consistent basis. Redknapp managed to persuaded him not to go before the close of the mid-season transfer window but the player admits that he is still unsettled with his situation at White Hart Lane. "I didn't want to leave. I don't go thinking, 'I want to go to this club or that club'," Defoe told the Daily Mirror. "But in January I just wasn't playing enough and I did go to the manager and ask to go out on loan. "He said to me, 'I don't want you to go out on loan. We are trying to do something special here. Don't go.' And so I stayed. And I worked hard to keep myself sharp. "But still I haven't had that run of games. It still feels like I will only get a game if someone is injured or suspended. "Sometimes I even feel like I'm in the youth team, because I know that, whatever I do in midweek, I won't get a game at the weekend. "The manager picks the team and I would never be disrespectful to the manager. But when someone doesn't talk to you and explain what's going on its hard. "I love the club. Everybody knows that. When I'm out and people ask whether I am leaving I always say no. But how can I stay somewhere that I don't get the chance to play?"